ISIL-affiliated rebel fighters blamed for 38 deaths in attack in Democratic Republic of Congo | ISIL/ISIS news

The gunmen attacked villagers in the Beni area of ​​North Kivu province with rifles and machetes.

Rebel fighters affiliated with ISIL (ISIS) have killed at least 38 people in a nighttime attack on a village in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), officials and a civil society leader in the region said.

The armed men attacked villagers in the Beni area of ​​North Kivu province with rifles and machetes on Friday night, said local official Fabien Kakule.

District official Leon Kakule Siviwe said the recent increase in violence was due to attackers taking advantage of the low security presence.

Local civil society leader Justin Kavalami blamed members of the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) for the attack.

The ADF, which is also accused of being behind another village attack that killed at least 16 people earlier this week, was originally based in neighboring Uganda. After expanding into eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, it pledged allegiance to ISIL in 2018 and has carried out frequent attacks, further destabilizing a region where many armed groups are active.

According to local authorities, the ADF has killed more than 50 people in the war-torn region of the Democratic Republic of Congo this week.

Since late 2021, the Congolese and Ugandan armies have been conducting joint operations against the ADF in North Kivu and neighboring Ituri, but have so far failed to stop the deadly attacks on civilians.

The east of the Democratic Republic of Congo has been plagued by violence from armed groups for decades, with both the government and foreign actors supplying weapons to the conflicting parties. The Rwandan-backed M23 (March 23 Movement) resumed its armed campaign in the region in late 2021, seizing large swathes of territory in North Kivu, while intensified fighting continues to force tens of thousands of people to flee.

By the end of last year, approximately 6.9 million people had been displaced throughout the Democratic Republic of Congo, most of them in the eastern provinces.

Since an escalation of hostilities in March 2022, more than 1.6 million people have been displaced from their homes in North Kivu in the east of the country.